1. Technical Field
The present invention refers to a modular frame for moveable wall made of glass or other pane material, comprising a base or lower side provided with a pane seat for receiving and locking a portion of a pane, a cross member or upper side also provided with a pane seat, one or more posts forming the sides of the frame, provided with at least one pane seat, and connecting means allowing a removable connection between the posts and the lower and upper sides.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
The modular frames for moveable wall are normally used for partitioning a room into different environments, in cases where one wants to avoid performing an invasive modification intervention of the plan of the room, for example by raising a partitioning wall.
The frames of the prior art are usually made up of a plurality of upper cross members fixed onto the ceiling, vertically overlying a plurality of bases fixed onto the floor, connected to a plurality of posts that form the sides of the frame.
The post is fixed onto the cross member and onto the base through corner connection means.
Each of these sides of the frame (cross members, bases and posts) is usually made up of snap-couplable window/door frames or window/door sections made up of two portions, usually sectioned, connected through snap-fit means, which in the assembled configuration form a pane compartment configured to accommodate an edge portion of the pane.
The pane compartment of the base also accommodates a support element, suitable to support the pane in the operating position thereof.
The assembly of the wall firstly occurs by fixing a cross member onto the ceiling, vertically overlying a base fixed onto the floor. A post is thus connected to cross member and base. The pane is placed on the support element of the base in the vertical operating position thereof. Subsequently snap-fitting window/door frames are assembled, in such a manner that the edge portions of the pane are accommodated in the pane compartments. The method described up to now is repeated in such a manner to adjacently position a new pane to the previous one, progressively forming the wall.
Though satisfactory from various points of view, the frame structure of the aforedescribed type reveals various drawbacks.
First and foremost, the aforedescribed frame structure does not provide for the possibility to compensate possible relative vertical positioning errors between the cross member and the base during assembly. This implies employing skilled manpower and also increases the assembly times.
The snap-fitting window/door frames forming the sides of the frame, do not guarantee constant and repeatable transverse pressure into the pane. This may lead to the creation of shearing stress gradients on the pane, which are particularly dangerous in case of panes made of fragile material, such as glass.
Furthermore, the snap-fitting window/door frames used do not have high mechanical resistance, on condition of not overdimensioning the thickness of the sides of the frame which would otherwise jeopardize the aesthetic quality of the wall, to the detriment of the overall safety in case of application of heavy panes, such as the soundproof multilayer panels.
Lastly, the frame structure described above is characterised by considerable assembly complexity, which would make it unsuitable for solutions in which the moveable wall is to be disassembled and subsequently reassembled frequently, such as for example in offices.
Thus, the object of the present invention is that of providing a modular frame structure for moveable wall made of glass or other pane material having high mechanical resistance and high degree of safety in use.
Another object of the present invention is that of providing a modular frame structure for moveable wall made of glass or other pane material assembly thereof being particularly easy.